Maverick
by Gabfic
Summary: Woverine and Jubilee meet a family that might have a connection to Logan's Past


Disclaimer/ Author's Note: Ok here's my little idea about to hint at Wolverine's past. Nothing real big though. Normal disclaimers apply: Mrs. Jameson and her family are my characters but the X-men and the mansion they live in belong to Marvel.  
  
  
Maverick  
By Gables  
  
  
Wolverine sat in a bar, occasionally sipping his beer. He could feel the eyes of a woman staring at him.   
  
"Geez, I've got to stop hanging out in places like this." He mumbled to himself. It never failed, when he tried to escape one thing, something new always found him. And it usually began with a woman staring at him in a bar.  
  
Not wanting to tempt fate further, Wolverine chugged the remains of his beer, pulled out a few Canadian dollars and then headed out for the door. He was bitter that he had to leave prematurely: before ample alcohol in his system, and before a good fight.  
  
Without looking back toward the bar, he got into his jeep and started the motor.  
  
"Maverick! Hey Maverick!"  
  
Wolverine softly cursed when he heard the voice. Without even looking, he knew that the voice was trying to catch his attention, and he knew that it belonged to the woman in the bar. She ran up to him and stood firmly by the jeep.   
  
"Mav-rick! Where are you going?"  
  
Growling lowly, Wolverine turned only his head toward her. He kept his hands on the gearshift, ready to get out of the parking lot. "Name's not Maverick, lady, now if you'll excuse me..."  
  
The woman reached out and touched his arm. It was a gentle touch, but still she made her force known. Wolverine cursed again as he looked at her hand.  
  
"Mav... David, it's me, It's Valentine!"  
  
"Sorry Darlin' like I said, I don't know who you are, and I sure as hell ain't a Maverick or a David."  
  
She looked puzzled. Wolverine sighed and then relaxed his muscles a little. He looked over her face. She was older than he originally thought, probably in her early forties. She had blue eyes that matched his own. Her hair was a mousy brown color, with highlights of bleach blonde and she wore modest covering for a woman who hung out in the type of bars that Logan frequented. Her ears were backstaged by large gold hoops, and she had gold hoop bracelets on both her arms. The hand that was on his arm, her left hand, was decorated with a wedding band.  
  
"Come on David, this isn't funny, you've only been gone a year."  
  
Logan scrunched his eyes, and sniffed the air, trying to understand her game. "I've never been here before lady, I'm just passing though."   
  
The woman looked shocked and removed her hand from Logan's arm. "You're not David?"   
  
He shook his head.  
  
"You name isn't David James Logan?"  
  
That name caught in his ears, but he shook his head again.  
  
"I'm, I'm sorry. It's just that you look so much like my brother."  
  
"Yer brother?"  
  
"Yeah, David looks just like you, he took off about a year ago. We haven't heard from him since."   
  
Wolverine growled.   
  
"Hey, listen, I see now that you're not Maverick, but I think you might want to go with me anyway. I have a feeling that you'll want to meet someone."  
  
Wolverine growled again. "What about your husband?" He nodded to the guy who stood at the entrance of the bar. He had been sitting with her in the bar.  
  
"He probably thinks that you are my brother, so it's no big deal."  
  
"I ain't your brother lady."  
  
"I know. I also know that you're not going to hurt me. Listen, I just want to show you something that's all."  
  
Wolverine raised an eyebrow, staring at her intently. Then he sniffed the air with dedication. Finally after a moment, he turned off the engine sighing a loud "Ahh for Flamin' sake!"  
  
With an abrupt gesture that startled the woman next to his jeep, Wolverine threw an arm over the back of his seat and lifted up a blanket that was covering the floor. Beneath it huddled Jubilee's small form. She looked up at him and smiled sheepishly.   
  
"Hiya..."  
  
"Don't you hiya me! What the hell do you think you're doing in the back of my jeep?" Wolverine ignored the woman now and was giving his full attention to his young stowaway.  
  
"Thought you might need some company, W..."  
  
Wolverine cut her off before she could address him with his nickname. He was angry with her and didn't want her to worm her way into his soft spot.  
  
"If I wanted company I woulda stayed there!"  
  
"Sompthin's botherin' you! And I wanted to help!"  
  
"I don't need your help!"  
  
"YA DO TO! YOU didn't even know that I was here, and it's been TWO days! Don't you tell me you don't need my help when you can't even find a stowaway who's been hiding RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" Jubilee was sitting fully upright in the back seat. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her bright pink earrings jingled as she leaned forwarded to yell right back in his face.  
  
Wolverine's face went blank. Then he started to chuckle. "All right Darlin' you're right. But we're calling Chuck right away and then we're going home."  
  
Jubilee slumped back in the seat and pouted. "Yernofunanymore" she mumbled. But she knew that he heard her perfectly well.  
  
A scrapping of a shoe made Wolverine remember that the woman was still next to his car waiting for an answer. Jubilee looked up at her too.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" asker the young teenager  
  
"Watch yer mouth, Kid." Wolverine automatically said.  
  
"My name is Andrea Kline. Who the hell are you?" Andrea glared back at Jubilee with the same cynical face.  
  
"Jubilee. So what do you wanna show us?"  
  
Wolverine chuckled again. He pulled out a cigar and watched how Andrea put up with Jubilee's mouth.  
  
"Us? I have nothing to show you. I'm here talking to him." Andrea nodded her head at Wolverine's form in the front seat.  
  
Before the hostility could get any higher, Wolverine lit the cigar and addressed Andrea, "Fine, Darlin' get in the car, and tell me where to go."  
  
Andrea walked around the car and sat in the passenger seat. With a smug glace at the still pouting Jubilee, she gave directions to Wolverine.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
After twenty minutes of driving, Logan pulled his jeep into a long driveway that was lined with pine trees. At the end of the drive was a clearing with a log cabin. It was two stories tall and had a porch that wrapped around the right side.  
  
"What's this place?" questioned Jubilee's bored voice.  
  
"This is my grandmother's home."  
  
"Your grandmother? You took us to meet your grandmother?" Jubilee was going to whine further, but an unhappy glance from Wolverine told her to shut up.  
  
"This cabin was actually built by my great-grandfather. My grandmother is the only one of her siblings still alive." Andrea led the way up to the house and opened the door without knocking or even unlocking it. She switched on a small light that lit up the living room.   
  
The room was filled with antiques. The wood furniture looked hand crafted, and all possible table and wall surfaces held photos. Wolverine walked around the room with Jubilee a step behind him. Most of the photos were of David and Andrea growing up. On top of the mantel above the fireplace, Wolverine leaned in closer to inspect an old sepia-toned photo.  
  
"Geez Wolvie, that guy looks just like you!" Jubilee whispered in his ear. Wolverine just grunted an agreement.   
  
"That is my father and his brother." A new voice responded to Wolverine's interest in the old photo. The voice was soft and feminine, with a lace of wisdom, aristocracy and sadness that comes only with age.  
  
"Grandma, what are you doing up?" Andrea walked over to her grandmother, who had just come down the stairs.   
  
"Well, do you expect me to stay asleep when I hear strangers in my home?" She smiled and winked at Jubilee. "Hello dear, my name is Lily Jameson. That photo is of my father, Reynold Logan and his brother. It was taken in 1916, right before his brother went off to World War I."  
  
Wolverine took off his hat and nodded in a polite gesture, "Ma'am."  
  
"I assume that Andrea brought you here because you look just like my grandson."  
  
"Yes Ma'am."  
  
"You have no idea who we are, do you?"  
  
"No Ma'am"  
  
"Well, it's hard not to notice the similarities, and since Andrea brought you here, that's got to mean something."  
  
Wolverine raised an eyebrow and looked at Andrea. She looked away and brushed her hair out of her face.   
  
"Do you know anything about your genealogy, Sir?"  
  
"No, Ma'am" Genealogy was the least of his worries about his past.  
  
"That is probably your grandfather or your great-grandfather." She pointed to the Wolverine-look-alike in the photo. Logan reached out and lifted the frame gently from the mantle. He studied it more readily.   
  
"So you, uh, know his name?" Inquired Jubilee timidly.  
  
"No dear, I do not. My father never spoke of him much."  
  
"Grandma, we don't have to do this now. You need to go back to sleep. I was intending on introducing you tomorrow."  
  
"Andrea, that's not necessary, I'm sure Miss..." the elderly woman looked at Jubilee expectantly.  
  
"Jubilee" she answered the implied question.  
  
"I'm sure Miss Jubilee and her father have plans which you interrupted. They do not need to hang around here listening to me dote on my family history more than they have to."  
  
"Actually, Ma'am, he's not my father." Jubilee hung behind Wolverine, but still said the one thing that she wished wasn't true. Wolverine smiled down at her and put an arm around her shoulder.  
  
"Oh?" Was Grandma Jameson's response. She ran an eye over the pair that stood in front of her and then to her granddaughter. Andrea looked bewildered, and shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"Yeah, my parents were, uh, killed." Wolverine squeezed her shoulder.  
  
"We're partners, right kid?" He looked down at her again and smiled.  
  
"Right!" Jubilee grinned back.  
  
Grandma Jameson smiled gently at the two of them. "Do you have any children of your own?"   
  
Wolverine shook his head. "Nope." He looked a little sad, and then gave Jubilee another squeeze.  
  
"Well, I think you certainly are related to my uncle. He was the original Maverick, a lone wolf. Never stayed in one place for too long, although he obviously found somebody, for here you are."  
  
Jubilee raised an eyebrow and looked up at Wolverine. Then she looked back at the picture. "Lone wolf?"  
  
Grandma Jameson smiled mischievously and crooked a finger. "Follow me." She led the duo thought the room and up the stair, Andrea trailed behind.   
  
"My father built this cabin when he married my mother. That was in 1913. When my father was building this house, he built an extra room for his brother. My uncle had a wandering soul, and never stayed in one place for very long. But he always returned to his brother, his only family. This was a home base for him in a way. He kept a few things here, and when his travels brought him back, he would stay here."  
  
Jubilee knew enough about the holes in Wolverine's memories to known what he wanted to ask, so when he didn't say anything, she took it upon herself to ask for him. "What happened to the rest of their family?"  
  
Grandma Jameson paused with her hand on a doorknob. "My grandmother died during the labor of her third child. Both died. I would have had an aunt. My grandfather raised the two boys alone for another three years, but then he too died. They were left to care for each other at their farm home.  
  
Jubilee looked at the photo that Wolverine still held in his hands.  
  
"How much older was your father than your uncle?"  
  
Their host smiled gently and shook her head. She turned the knob of the door to open the guestroom while she spoke. "My father was eight years younger than his brother"  
  
Jubilee's mouth dropped open. "But he looks like *ten* years older in this photo!"  
  
"I know dear, but that's what my father maintained. He said that he was 6 when his father died and his 14 year old brother took care of them and the farm."  
  
"Grandma," Andrea's voice joined the conversation again, "I think you are switching the story, Grandpa Reynold is clearly the older on in the photo."  
  
Mrs. Jameson shook her head and looked directly at Logan. "My uncle never lived life like everybody else, there's no reason why he should have grown up like everybody else." She didn't say anything else, and finally entered into the room and turned on the lights.  
  
"This is the room that my father built for my uncle. I never met him; he went to the war before I was born in 1918. He never returned from the war. My mother decided that he had died, but my father never believed that. To the day he died, he talked as though his brother was still alive, picking fights and acting the hero."  
  
Logan was walking around the room, discreetly sniffing the air. Jubilee carefully watched him from the doorway where she stood with Mrs. Jameson and Andrea.  
  
"Why'd he think that he didn't die?"  
  
"My father said it would take more than a war to kill his brother. His body was never found, and we never got notice that he was killed or missing. It saddened my father to know that his brother never retuned, especially since he thought of him as still alive."  
  
"M'be he forgot." Logan's mumbled voice reached the trio by the door. They all looked up at him in surprise. "Dyin' ain't the only thing that can happen' to a guy inna war. They make you forget a lot of things. Things you swore you never would have."  
  
Jubilee walked over to Wolverine and took his hand. He looked down at her and gently squeezed it. He then sighed and looked down at the chest of draws in front of him, it was filled with family heirlooms. He reached out and lifted a box from its place. It was small, only 5 by 8 inches, and only 4 inches tall. It was made of pine, and had a wolf carved on the lid.   
  
Mrs. Jameson walked over to Logan. "I know of only two things that my uncle had actually touched. One is that box you are holding. A lover gave it to him. Inside is some hand made jewelry, shells and wooden beads. They are from a local tribe around here. My father said that my uncle visited them a lot, and had the respect of them all. They gave him a tribal name. Wolf, or Man who is a wolf." She rubbed her forehead with a shaky hand.   
  
"Grandma, you need to go to bed." Andrea put her arm around her grandmother to usher her back to her own room.  
  
"No, no dear, it's ok. It's just been a long time since I thought about this. I don't remember as well as I used to." She didn't let her granddaughter lead her out of the room. Instead Mrs. Jameson walked over to the corner by the window by herself. Wolverine and Jubilee followed. Mrs. Jameson gently pulled the draping curtains aside. On the wall, two feet above the floor, was a carving in the wall. Both Wolverine and Jubilee crouched down in front of it.   
  
"This is the second thing. My uncle carved it. It is a Blackfoot symbol for his Wolf name. I used to trace it with my finger when I was a child. It must have taken him a long time to carve that with a knife."  
  
"Or a short time with a claw." Jubilee mumbled, knowing that only Wolverine could hear her.   
  
Logan reached out a hand, the carving was at the perfect height for him to carve it, while sitting in this same position. With a stubby finger, he traced the lines. After a moment, he stood up, and faced Mrs. Jameson again.   
  
"Wolverine, Ma'am. That's a sign for the Wolverine."  
  
The frail woman nodded her head, her eye never leaving Logan's. "Yes, you're right. It was Wolverine."  
  
Logan looked once more at the picture in his hand. He felt Jubilee stand next to him and wrapped his free arm over her shoulder, letting her lean on him. He still held his hat in the hand that was on Jubilee and the large cowboy hat covered most of her body. She took the photo from his hands and studied it closer herself.  
  
"Are you and your brother mutants?"  
  
Andrea was surprised that Logan was talking to her. She looked frightened for a moment, but relaxed.  
  
"Yes." Her voice still held some apprehension in it.  
  
"Are ya a telepath?"  
  
Jubilee looked up from the photo, now interested in this new topic.  
  
Andrea brushed her hair behind her hair in a nervous gesture. "Umm... no, I guess you could say I'm more of an empath, I just feel when people are connected. When I saw you, I knew that you were connected to me and my family, so I thought that you were my brother."  
  
"Can't you do better than know just some connection?" Jubilee's remark was rude, and Wolverine scowled at her for it, but the question still hung in the air.   
  
"I think I could, but I never pushed to make it work. You don't want to stand out in a backwards place like this."  
  
Logan caught Mrs. Jameson's eye. She spoke to him. "I'm sure my uncle knew that when he left. Wouldn't you agree?"  
  
Logan snorted. He looked once more around the room, nodding. "We've been here long enough. Thanks Ma'am." Wolverine let go of Jubilee and squarely placed the hat on his head. He ran a finger and thumb over the edge to minutely adjust it.   
  
Andrea began to exit the room and Jubilee followed. Mrs. Jameson and Logan hung back for a minute.   
  
"Sir, do you know anything about what happened to my uncle?"  
  
Logan took her arm and began to lead her from the room. He switched off the lights and closed the door. She didn't walk to the stairs, but instead to her own bedroom.   
  
"Very little Ma'am."  
  
"I always wished that I could have met him. My father said that I had a similar personality. Much of what I see in your little friend there. Kindred spirits indeed." She sat on the bed and rested, looking up at Logan.   
  
He stood quiet for a moment, but then reached into his coat and pulled out his wallet. From it he drew a business card, almost blank. He also grabbed a pen from his pocket and scribbled something on it.  
  
"If you ever need anything Ma'am, call this number." He handed the card to her, pinching it right above the newly written number.  
  
Mrs. Jameson took the card and scrutinized it. "This looks like a number for the United States."  
  
"New York, Ma'am" Logan nodded.  
  
She smiled and looked up at him. "Why do I get the feeling that you deferring to me as Ma'am isn't the way it should have been?"  
  
Logan raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Whom do I ask for?" she asked, deciding not to follow that questioning anymore.  
  
"Pardon me?"  
  
She lifted the card a bit to draw his eyes to it. "For whom should I ask to speak?"  
  
"Logan, Ma'am. Ask for Logan." He tipped his hat once and then exited her room.   
  
Andrea and Jubilee were sitting in the kitchen drinking juice when Wolverine entered.   
  
"You are welcome to stay the night." Andrea told him.  
  
"I know, but I've got to get this kid back home. They'll already be yelling at me for her being gone for two days."  
  
Jubilee glared at Wolverine and pouted. "Come on, Wolvie! We don't have to go back right away do we? Couldn't we at least stay the night?"  
  
Wolverine saw Andrea's eyebrows lift up in surprise when Jubilee called him Wolvie.  
  
"Nu-uh, kid. We're hitting the road tonight. Right now. So get up."  
  
Jubilee took one last chug of her juice and then stood up, and stalked out the room to the front door.   
  
Andrea stood and looked at Logan for a moment. Finally she spoke. "Jubilee is correct when she criticized my abilities to distinguish relations. I felt how close you two were and assumed that you were father and daughter. You two may not be related, but I feel your connection. She tagged along to help you with whatever's eating you, and I'd suggest that you let her."  
  
"Can I use your phone?"  
  
Andrea glared at him for ignoring her words. She pointed, "Yeah, sure, go ahead."  
  
A few minutes later Wolverine walked outside to the jeep. Jubilee was already inside waiting impatiently for him. Andrea stood to the side. He walked over to her and offered a hand.  
  
"Thanks for an interesting evein' Darlin'. If you need anything, your grandma knows how to contact me. Good luck on finding your brother."  
  
She took his offered hand, but didn't add any emotion at his departure. Logan got into the jeep and started it. He did a quick three point turn and sped off down the driveway.   
  
He looked over at Jubilee. She was edgy and wouldn't stop shifting in her seat.  
  
"What is it kid?"  
  
"I was just wondering if well, if you were thinkin' the same thing I was about Mrs. Jameson's uncle."  
  
"That I'm really him?"  
  
"Uh-huh"  
  
Wolverine looked over at her. "Yeah, it crossed my mind."   
  
"Pretty weird, I mean, she's so old!" Jubilee slightly giggled.  
  
A snort came from Wolverine.  
  
Jubilee drew quiet and solemn again. "I guess you called the Professor."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"So I guess we'll be going back to the mansion now."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"You know, this sucks."  
  
Wolverine raised an eyebrow. Jubilee continued  
  
"Whatever you were running from, that was only 2 days ago, so it's still gonna be there when you get back." She continued when she got no response. Her voice began to get a bit more whiney and desperate. "So you know, you oughtta just stay away for a while, and well, since you're not going back to the mansion to drop me off, and I know you wouldn't just leave me some place to leave it up to me to get home on my own... I think we've just got to hang out for a while." Jubilee finished and played with her earrings.  
  
Wolverine gave her a look once over. He took out a cigar and held it out to Jubilee. She paffed it for him. After a long silence and a couple of puffs to get it going, he said, "I've got three rules." Jubilee warily nodded.  
  
"Rule number one: You're not going to drive. Don't even ask. Rule number two: we're not going to eat at MacDonald's every night." Jubilee grinned when she realized that she had won.  
  
"What's rule number three?"  
  
"Rule three is," Wolverine pulled the cigar out of his mouth and looked over at her with a serious face. "You don't tell *anyone* anything that you heard tonight. You lock it up in your brain so that not even Jeanie or Chuck could get at it. Got it?"  
  
"Why not Wolvie?"  
  
Wolverine sighed and then decided to pull off to the side of the road. "Jubes, Jubilee, I don't know what ta think bout all this. And I ain't gonna let anybody else know, and risk having them put those people in danger just cause possibly might happen ta be related ta me. Got it?"  
  
"Yeah, I do." Jubilee reached over and gave Wolverine a hug. "What about the Professor? Isn't he expecting me back?"  
  
Wolverine just grinned. "Chuck knows that you're going back... sooner or later."  
  
Jubilee laughed as Wolverine put the jeep into gear and drove off again, heading... somewhere.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~  
THE END  



End file.
